You Gotta Know These Golfers
- Tiger Woods (1975–present) Born to an African-American father and a Thai mother, he appeared on The Mike Douglas Show with a golf club at age two. Woods won three straight U.S. Junior Amateurs, and then became the only golfer to win three straight U.S. Amateurs (1994–1996). In 1997 Woods became the youngest ever to win the Masters—by a whopping 12 strokes. At the 2000 U.S. Open, when he won by 15 strokes, Woods began a remarkable run of four straight major championships: British Open (by eight strokes, making him the youngest ever to complete the career Grand Slam), PGA Championship, and the 2001 Masters. He accumulated 14 major wins by 2008, when his career was derailed by injuries and personal issues, including infidelities leading to a highly publicized separation from his former wife. His long-awaited comeback reached its peak in 2019 when he won the Masters, his 15th major title.
- Jack Nicklaus (1940–present) Nicknamed “The Golden Bear,” he won the U.S. Amateur twice (1959 and 1961), and was the 1961 NCAA champion at Ohio State. He took his first major the following year at the U.S. Open, beating Arnold Palmer on Palmer’s home course. Nicklaus became the youngest Masters champion at the time in 1963, and 23 years later became the oldest champion with a final round 65 in 1986. He has a record 18 major pro championships overall, including six Masters, five PGA Championships, four U.S. Opens, and three British Opens. Nicklaus is still somewhat active on the Senior PGA Tour, and as a golf course architect.
- Arnold Palmer (1929–2016) A native of Latrobe, Pennsylvania, Palmer made golf popular with the masses, as his fans were known as “Arnie’s Army.” He won seven majors, including four Masters, and was the first golfer to earn one million dollars on the PGA Tour. Later Palmer became one of the stars of the Senior Tour, winning the Senior PGA Open in 1980 and 1981. In 2002 he played in his last competitive Masters.
- Ben Hogan (1912–1997) The PGA Tour’s leading money winner from 1940–1942 and in 1946 and 1948, two events interrupted his playing career: service in World War II and a near-fatal 1949 head-on car accident. After each, though, Hogan rose to the top of his game; he won nine majors overall (six after the accident), including four U.S. Opens. In 1953 he accomplished a feat matched only by Tiger Woods: winning three modern major championships in one season (the Masters, U.S. Open, and British Open).
- Robert Tyre “Bobby” Jones (1902–1971) An Atlanta native, and the greatest amateur golfer of all time, Jones never turned pro, but won thirteen major championships in eight years, including four U.S. Amateurs. In 1930 he won what was then considered the Grand Slam, taking both the British and U.S. Amateur and Open Championships. After that season, Jones retired from golf to practice law, but helped design a golf course in Augusta, Georgia that became the permanent site of the Masters in 1934.
- Sam Snead (1912–2002) No golfer has won more PGA Tournaments than Snead’s 81, and he amassed 135 victories worldwide. Nicknamed “Slammin’ Sammy,” he won seven major professional championships between 1942 and 1954, but he is known more for the one he never won: the U.S. Open. In 1939 Snead led the Open for 71 holes but lost on the last hole when he took an eight. In the 1960s and ’70s he won a record six Senior PGA Championships.
- Tom Watson (1949–present) He became the major rival to Jack Nicklaus in the second half of the Golden Bear’s career. Watson’s greatest achievements were at the British Open, a tournament he won five times between 1975 and 1983. He took eight major championships overall.
- Lee Trevino (1939–present) Nicknamed “Supermex” for his Mexican-American heritage, Trevino came from a poor Dallas family and served in the Marines, but came from nowhere to win the 1968 U.S. Open. He won six majors: the U.S. Open, the British Open, and the PGA Championship twice each, his second PGA in 1984 at age 44. That last win was most impressive because it came after the 1975 Western Open, where Trevino was struck by lightning on the golf course.
- Gary Player (1935–present) The most successful non-American golfer in history, this South African has won nine majors. When Player took his only U.S. Open crown in 1965, he not only became the first non-American to win that tournament in 45 years, but he also became one of three (now five) golfers (along with Nicklaus, Woods, Hogan, and Gene Sarazen) to win all four modern Grand Slam events. Nicknames include “The Black Knight” for his dress and “Mr. Fitness” for his devotion to exercise.
- Phil Mickelson (1970–present) Known as “Lefty” due to his swing (though he is naturally right-handed), Phil Mickelson won The Masters in 2004, 2006, and 2010, and has also won a PGA Championship and British Open. Though he has never reached number 1 in the World Golf Ranking, Mickelson was a constant force during the 2000s, finishing second in the U.S. Open six times. In 2018, Mickelson won “The Match,” a pay-per-view event against Tiger Woods using the match play format; the win earned Mickelson $9 million.
- Rory McIlroy (1989–present) McIlroy won his first major championship at the U.S. Open in 2011, and despite being just 22 years old, he finished at 16 strokes under par, a record for the tournament. He won three more majors in the following three years, and became the top-ranked golfer in the world in 2012; after doing so, he and Luke Donald took turns at the top spot for over a year. He briefly regained the top ranking in 2020, a year in which he and Dustin Johnson raised over £1.5 million for coronavirus relief in a televised skins game. Though he is from Northern Ireland, McIlroy has expressed interest in competing for Ireland in international competition instead of the U.K.
- Jordan Spieth (1993–present) In 2015, the year he turned 22, Spieth won both the Masters and the U.S. Open, and finished second at the PGA Championship. His Masters win was the first in which the same golfer lead after all four days since Raymond Floyd did it in 1976, and it included an 8-under-par opening day and a record-tying 18-under-par result for the tournament. Spieth has struggled more in recent years, failing to win any PGA Tour events since his British Open win in July 2017.
This article was contributed by Adam Fine and updated by ÎÞÓǶÌÊÓƵ editor Erik Nelson.